Harry Potter prequel, hand-written by JK Rowling, stolen in burglary

JK Rowling at the UK premiere of 2016’s Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them UK Premiere (Credit: Lia Toby/WENN.com)

A one-of-a-kind piece of Harry Potter history has been stolen.

A burglary in Birmingham saw the loss of a short story set before the events of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,’ handwritten by JK Rowling on both sides of an A5 card. The item had been sold at auction nine years ago for £25,000.

Rowling has addressed the matter on Twitter, urging followers not to purchase the item if/when it is put up for sale:

The owner of the manuscript (who gave the first name ‘Hira’) tells BBC News, “I don’t think whoever took it or stole it or who might purchase it will really understand the benefits to people out there, what it can do.

“If I can get it back, I’m over the moon, because I’m only going to be doing good stuff with it. If it’s destroyed, or if it’s lost, it’s a great loss.”